Game Mechanics
Combat Melee combat Combat is the main stat used in the game when two or more units are fighting in melee. It's used to determine whether an attack by a unit is able to hit, hit marginally, hit critically, cause a deathblow or miss the other unit. The exact calculations are shrouded in mystery, however the basic idea is that the combat scores of the attacking and defending units are compared to each other. If the attacking unit has a worse combat score than the defending unit, its chances of hitting are poor. If the attacker's combat is a little higher then its chances are a little better, and if its combat score is a lot higher than the defending unit's then its chances are much better. These comparisons work by ratios between the two combat scores, meaning that a unit with 16 combat against a unit with 4 combat has the same chances of hitting or doing a critical hit or a deathblow that a unit with 80 combat against a unit with 20 combat does. In other words, the difference between units that have 20 and 22 combat is negligible, while the difference between 4 and 6 combat is much bigger. As mentioned above Combat is used to determine what kind of a hit has been caused. These types and their effects are: *Miss, cause only 1 damage *Marginal hit, cause only half damage *Hit, cause normal damage *Critical hit, cause double damage and a special effect based on damage type (the unit does a victorius cry if the critical hit kills the opponent) *Deathblow, cause quadruple damage, always kills the opponent and the attacking unit does a victorious cry Note: Ranged units use melee combat calculations when attacking units at melee range, or when attacked by a melee unit. In these situations their combat score is being halved to simulate them being less proficient in close quarter fighting. Ranged combat For ranged combat the Combat score is used to determine the likelihood of a missile hitting the target (X,Y) position on the map grid. Each combat score has been hardcoded a percentage-based chance for the missile to hit its target, and if the missile is calculated to miss then it will hit one of the grid squares close to the target square at random. For ranged combat the Combat score is capped at 20, meaning that having more combat than that has no effect for the hit chances. It still does not give a unit 100 % chance to hit the target square though. It's useful to note that in ranged combat high Combat score is not always desirable though: In fights between large armies it's better to have your ranged units miss their intended targets and hit other enemy units to spread the damage out more evenly, than to have everyone target the same unit. Targeting the same unit can cause most of the missiles to be effectively wasted when the target unit dies in the middle of the volley of missiles. Of course exceptions to the rule exist, such as in situations where you need to focus fire on an enemy hero, a dragon or a titan. In these cases high Combat score would be more desirable. Ranged combat is also used for certain spells to calculate whether they hit their targets or not. Most damage spells in the game have no combat calculations at all, but the spells that use different kinds of "lightning beam"-effects such as Wildfire and Ice storm do a ranged combat check by the casting hero or unit for each target unit. Because of this it's important for heroes using these spells to have a reasonable combat score even if they won't be doing any melee fighting. Health Attack Damage Damage Types Piercing Piercing is an physical damage type, which means it is reduced by armor. Piercing damage gets greatly reduced against building. On Critical Hit - Ignore Armor Crushing Crushing is an physical damage type, which means it is reduced by armor. On Critical Hit - Stun: The Target gets its combat reduced to 1. Slashing Slashing is an physical damage type, which means it is reduced by armor. Slashing Damage gets reduced against buildings. On Critical Hit - Cleave: Deals Damage to all units around. Fire Fire is an elemental damage type, which means it is reduced by resistance. Fire damage deals double damage against buildings but half damage against Dragons. On Critical Hit - Burn: Sets the target on flames, dealing damage over a long period of time. Ice Ice is an elemental damage type, which means it is reduced by resistance. On Critical Hit - Freeze: Target's attack speed and movement speed gets reduced. Electrical Electrical is an elemental damage type, which means it is reduced by resistance. On Critical Hit - Mana Drain: Drains the target's all mana. Magic Magic damage deals full damage to most unit types. Only few units can deal Magic damage. On Critical Hit - None Attack Range Movement and Attack Speed Armor and Resistances The Armor and Resistance-stats have a shared function of reducing different types of damage a unit or a building takes. Armor protects against physical damage (piercing, slashing and crushing) and Resistance protects against elemental damage (fire, cold and electric). The exact formula for how the armor works is shrouded in mystery, however these guidelines can be used to make more sense out of it: -If Armor (or Resistance) is less than damage taken, then half of armor score is reduced from the damage (damage - armor/2) -If Armor (or Resistance) equals damage taken, then the damage is 50 % of original -If Armor (or Resistance) equals twice the damage, then the damage is 25 % of original An other way to look at how the Armor and Resistance-stats work, is by looking at the +Damage and +Armor upgrades that some races have: The +5 Damage upgrade simply gives all applicable units +5 Damage, however the +5 Armor skill actually reduces the damage taken by 2,5 - or less, if the total Armor stat is higher than the damage being taken. One important feature of the Armor and Resistance-stats is that in the game they are applied first before the +50 % or -50 % damage type-based resistance and vulnerabilities. This means that if a unit with high armor is being attacked with a damage type it's vulnerable to, the unit may be able to virtually negate the vulnerability by first reducing the damage taken with its Armor and Resistance-stats. So for the purposes of negating damage the Armor and Resistance-stats both work exactly the same way. However Resistance also has a less known secondary function to it (Armor has no secondary functions): It's able to protect the unit from psychological effects. Just like the exact armor formula this one is shrouded in mystery as well, but let it be said that units with high Resistance-stat are less likely to suffer from any psychological effects. So if you had ever wondered why your Barbarian Spearchuckers are always running away from the dragons, now you know that it's their poor Resistance-stat at work. Mana